


Ain't That Funny

by Badass_iero



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer
Genre: Abuse, Depression, M/M, Parental Abuse, Recovery, self injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 07:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2459900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badass_iero/pseuds/Badass_iero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part two and final addition to "face so sunny"</p><p>Okay just to be clear here I do not like 5 second of summer and I do not listen to their music, I wrote all the 5sos fanfic on this page for my girlfriend (who is now my ex) loved them and so I wrote these fr her and we broke up but these fic's are awesome so I'm not taking them down cause I worked hard on them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my sucky stories and wanna talk to me or follow my fan account blogs just comment asking for my usernames below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, and hey don't read this out of order, if you haven't read "Face So Sunny" the first part to this story, go read that first thnks

*Two weeks later*    
Luke's point of view  
I sit at the desk  in the living room on the laptop Ashton bought for all of us and mess about on tumblr, tempted to go onto Ashton's profile and fuck shit up but decide against it. "Damn it you can't refuse. We're going" Ashton yells and I groan. "Social gatherings is not what I ran away from my parents for" I say and Ashton rolls his eyes. "I don't give a fuck, you're going so get dressed"  he says and I sigh. There's absolutely no winning with Ashton so I really just have to go with it. I get off the couch and walk  slowly back into mine and Calum's room and dig through my dresser to find clothing that is barbecue appropriate in a sense. I pull on black skinnies without rips in the knees and a 'Ramones' t-shirt. I walk over to the closet and find my vans with socks already shoved inside and I put those on and grab sunglasses as I walk back to the living room. "Happy?" I ask Ashton and pull on the corners of my shirt. "Throughly pleased, thanks for asking, let's go" he says and walks to the door with the keys in one hand and a bowel of some type of food in the other. I oblige and walk to the door, waiting for him to lock the flat and follow him as he walks to the backyard of the flat complex. There is already several people there and I internally groan. We walk over to the food table and Ash puts down the bowel of whatever it is and awkwardly stand there. "Hey lads come over here" the Irishman yells. "Come on, he's cool and really funny" Ash says to me and pulls my hand. "Hey Niall" Ashton says and waves to our neighbour. "How's it going lads?" He asks. "Ah it's going fine" Ash answers and takes a seat next to Niall. They continue making conversation whilst I watch the people around. Zayn and Liam talk to Lou and Tom, Harry and Louis holding their adopted twins Jackson and Casper whilst talking to some people I don't know, Lux, Lilliana, and another little I don't know all colour in colouring books, Lilliana's the most colourful and beautiful because she's the daughter of Zayn, you can't get any more artistically legendary then that. I roll my eyes at myself for not being social but I won't walk into anyone else's conversations. Harry puts Casper down and he runs to me, smiling and saying "I like your shirt" which doesn't surprise me because Harry is his dad and naturally he would be raised on Harry's style of music. Besides Lilliana, Casper impresses me the most out of all the little's here. "Thanks bud" I say and pull him up on my lap. "Can I try on your sunglasses?" He asks, already reaching for them. "Yeah here" I say and take my raybans off and putting them on him. He giggles at the size when I show him how he looks with the  in-facing camera on my mobile. "Where's Callie?" He asks and it makes me laugh. "Callie is at work but he'll be here soon, bud" I say and ruffle my hand through his dirty blonde hair. "And Mikey too?" He asks and I nod. "I want to colour my hair like him some day" he states and it makes me smile. "Oh yeah what colour?" I ask, and he smirks. "All colours!" He yells. "At the same time?!" I ask in a surprised tone. "No, silly, one at a time, Auntie Lou said she'd do it for me" he says and points at Lou. "Well that's cool" I say to him with lack of things to talk about with a five year old. "I'm going to go colour, bye uncle Lukey" he says abruptly and hops off my lap, handing me my sunglasses and running to the table the other little's are colouring at.  
 With nothing else to do I walk up to the food table and look over all the foods and snacks. I find out that all Ashton brought was a bowel of suckers and I smile because that was totally for the little's here; he loves all of them. I overlook the food and grab a small croissant and a cup of lemonade and sit back down next to Ashton who is still engaged in a conversation with Niall that involves a lot of laughs that would nonetheless come out of the both of them more than anyone else here. "Glad to see you're eating" a voice says and hands snake around my waist and a kiss is planted on my neck. "Hi Princess" I say with a smile. "Hi Lukey" he replies and comes around to sit beside me on the bench. "How was work?" I ask. "T'was fine" he replies. "Where's Mike?" I ask and he laughs. "Searching, well tearing  the flat apart for Daniel, the stuffed lion that I may or may not have given to Jackson to play with yesterday" he says with a giant grin. "You're a bastard sometimes, Hood" I say and lean into him. "He's a grown boy he shouldn't have a stuffed toy, not to mention it's not very punk rock" he says with a mock tone. "Oh sure, you're talking, let's not bring up a certain blanket you own that has puppies on it" I tease and he blushes. "Well you have ninja turtle undies so we're even" he teased back. "And Ash has the ponies shirt" I add and he nods. "We're all just dorks" he says with a laugh and I nod. "I'm going to get some food I'll be right back" he says, putting a hand on my shoulder and placing a quick kiss on my temple. I watch him get food and I cringe when he comes back when I see the amount of food piled on his plate. It's not that I think he is going to get fat, it's more of me considering how I would look if I ate all that. Calum has noticed my eating habits and tries to stay positive about it but I can tell it scares him slightly. It started right after we arrived two weeks ago, me not eating half of the food I should on a daily basis. "Love, don't wither away on me" Calum said to me about a week ago and I've been trying to eat, but I am so used to my stomach grumbling and I rely on it to remind me that I'm alive... It sounds so messed up when I try to explain it to anyone so I just refrain. "I have a feeling a certain Hood-ling is responsible for  the disappearance of Daniel" Michael says as he walks up, glaring at Calum. "I wouldn't know anything about that..." Calum says smugly. Michael sits down next to Ashton and kisses his cheek, trying not to interrupt his conversation with Niall. "M'gettin food be right back" Michael says and taps Ashton on the knee before getting up and getting an assortment of food. As Michael walks over to the food table Lilliana sees him and shrieks in excitement "Michael!" She yells and drops her crayon and runs to Michael, making a huge scene. Michael's cheeks burn a bright red because he's aware of the scene she just made but he still takes her into his arms and hugs her and puts a small kiss on her cheek. All the little's really like us four, but they all have favourites. Lux adores Ashton and his hair that he lets her play with all the time. Lilliana obviously loves Michael, and it's actually quite adorable how they get on with each other. Jackson favourites Calum and they fit so well together because Jackson loves playing with Cal's bass and Cal loves teaching him. Casper and I get on because he thinks I'm fun to be around and likes some of the same music I do because Harry plays his music around Casper all the time. The adults call us "little and littler" but I don't mind because the little's are nice to be around because they remind us of our siblings. "What are you thinking about Lukey?" Calum asks. "Oh just the little's" I say and point to them at the table where most of them are colouring. Michael holds Lilliana on his hip whilst he gets his food and she reaches down every so often and places food on his plate whilst he's not looking and it makes me laugh cause she's very sneaky sometimes.  
 Shortly he comes back with his food and Lilliana. Niall walks away back to the direction of his flat and Ashton turns to us. "Hey mates how was work?" He asks Michael and Calum "'twas fine" Michael says and puts Lilliana down. She runs back to the colouring table and continues her picture and Calum adds "yeah it was fine." "Holy shit" Michael says under his breath and drops his plate and runs from the table. We all see what he ran to and go seconds later. Niall struggles with two giant speakers and a sound board tower, and Michael ran to help because the top speaker is about to fall on Niall. "Fuck thanks lads, I almost died!" Niall declares and we laugh because that's a little dramatic.  ---------- Michael's point of view   
As I sit down and Lilliana runs off I watch towards the flat complex as Niall comes out, and he has a bunch of his DJ equipment. As he pushes it the top speaker starts to fall and I say "holy shit" and get up and run over to him so the speaker doesn't fall on him. The boys run after me and when they notice the speaker falling too they help hold it up. "Fuck thanks lads, I almost died!" Niall exclaims when he sees what we did. We all laugh and the boys go back and sit down as I help Niall set up the speakers and his sound tower. Niall plays a barbecue appropriate playlist as we mull about around the back yard of the flat complex. Harry disappears for awhile and comes back with small water pistols. He hands the neon guns out to everyone as Louis fills buckets with water so we can fill the guns up and everyone gets one, even the adults. I walk over to Luke and ask "allies?" He smirks and whispers "sure." After everyone has a gun and the water is filled up we all fill our guns and wait for Niall to announce the beginning of our water gun war. I look around to see if I can spot Ashton or Calum and I realise the same time Luke does that they probably teamed up with each other too. "Three" Niall says through his DJ mic "two" he shouts  "one!" He yells and everyone runs. Me and Luke hide behind rubbish bins and sneak around benches and search for our boyfriends. Niall plays an energetic playlist of songs, songs that get everyone hyped and I find myself enjoying it and oddly enough singing along to Haven't Had Enough by Marianas Trench.   
Luke gets spotted by Zayn who is holding Lilliana and he gets two times as soaked. I eye Lilliana and she smiles and me and mouths "I won't shoot you" and when she says that I get up to run and hide behind a near tree. Lilliana does end up shooting me with a devilish grin on her face and it just makes me laugh. Liam takes an unfair advantage by shooting everyone from his and Zayn's balcony and damn it why didn't I think of that. Luke finds me behind the tree and ducks down and says "I saw Cal and Ash, let's go" and I follow him. Lux lays in the middle of the lawn already soaked and laughing at the wetness as Louis runs and picks her up and takes her to the water bins to fill up again. Me and Luke hide behind Lou's car as we spot Ash and Cal hiding behind the bushes on the side of the complex. Ashton sees me and gives me a grin that could kill, and then chases me. When Calum sees Ashton chasing me he chases Luke and we all run in different directions. Tom comes from behind the large rubbish dumpster and he has a super soaker that gets all four of us from a decent length away. "No fair!" Jackson shouts at Tom from up in a tree. I run past the main office to get away from Ashton. Casper smiles and waves at me from behind the glass doors of the office, dry and proud of himself for the hiding spot. As I continue running away from Ashton I decide the best idea would to go to our flat so that's what I do. As I run to our flat I spot the couple and their little that I don't know and their little is crying and the mum tries to comfort her as the dad says "it's just water" in a dry tone. I keep running and Ashton still chases me with a smile knowing that he will get me eventually cause running isn't my thing. The flat is unlocked thank god, I accidentally left it open when I was searching for Daniel and I'm glad I did because I would already have been soaked if I had to find my keys and unlock the door. I run into the flat and slam the door behind me to buy more time and I figure he's going to find me anyway so I go into the shower to hide.  
 "Oooooh Miiiiikeeeey" Ashton calls devilishly out as he comes in the flat. "I will find you" he says as he gets closer to the bathroom. "Gotcha" he says as he flicks the light on in the bathroom. I press myself up agains the corner of the shower with no where else to go and he grins at me before shooting me right in the crotch so it looks like I've wet myself and he evilly laughs the whole time. When his gun runs out of water he pulls me into a heated kiss, and after his hand is down my pants I know this isn't a water gun war anymore.   ------- Calum's point of view  
"Oh fuck guys please" I say as I accidentally walk in on Ashton's hand down Michael's pants. Michael blushes and Ashton ignores me as I walk out and slam the door. I go to the bathroom connected to the kitchen and remove my wet clothes and change into dry clothes in that bathroom instead because the other one is occupied. After I change I go back outside to the barbecue and sit next to Zayn and Liam, and Jackson comes over and sits on my lap. "Hey little man how's it going?" I ask. "It's cool" he says and it makes me smile because he's such a chill five year old. "Where'd the other two Aussies go?" Liam asks. I lean over to Jackson and hold his ears and whisper "things got a little heated and hands went to places they shouldn't be" and Liam laughs and nods. It makes Zayn smile and shake his head in fondness of the two. Luke comes over seconds later with Lilliana on his back and sets her down next to Zayn's chair "princess Lilliana delivery" Luke says and I roll my eyes. "papa!" Lilliana shouts and throws her arms around Zayn. "Hi baby girl" he says and kisses her forehead. I smile at Luke and he takes a seat next to me and says hello to Jackson. "Casper didn't get wet cause he hid in the office" Jackson pouts. "Well then you're going to have to beat him at the next thing we do" Luke says and Jackson smiles evilly. "By the way what did your daddies plan for the next thing we're doing?" Luke asks. "Food fight" Jackson says and sighs as he follows Lilliana to the little's table. I can see Luke shudder and it hurts me inside. I put an arm around his shoulder and my other hand on his hip and I stroke up and down his side, up to his ribcage that I can slightly feel and down to his hip bone that pokes out. He turns to me and looks me right in the eyes. I don't understand what made him start with this eating pattern, and I don't know why he's doing it but I'm going to help him eat normal again. "I love you and I don't think you need to lose weight if that's what you're trying to do" I whisper in his ear.  He sighs, and I don't think he quite knows what he's doing it for either but he can't stop it. I give him a quick kiss before getting up and going to the snack table again, picking out all the healthiest things like berries, crackers and cheeses. I pick a few and bring them back to the table, and offer them to Luke. He shakes his head 'no.'  
 I look at him awhile longer and he obliges and takes two raspberries and a blueberry and swallows them. I kiss him on the cheek telling him 'thank you' and I eat a few things myself to show him that he's not alone and that it's okay. "Ah there they are" Niall shouts as Michael and Ashton come out of the flat holding hands, coming back to the party and trying to be subtle but failing because Niall's greeting. "You know this is not the time for re-exploring" Zayn says smugly as they sit down. Michael turns pink and Ashton blushes slightly and glares at me. "He asked, I told" I supply and he rolls his eyes. "My god did someone just get laid, the tension is so thick" Harry says jokingly as he approaches. "Actually" Zayn says and tilts his head toward Ash and Mikey. "Oooooh" Louis says, trailing behind Harry. Ashton then goes very pink and Michael hides his face in his long shirt sleeves. "That was a quickie" Louis says in a chipper tone and ruffles a hand through Mikey's Magenta hair. "Fuck you all" Mikey says, muffled by his long shirt sleeves still covering his blushing cheeks. "We love you too Mikey, just not the same way as Ash does" Luke says. "Shut up Luke" Mikey says and narrows his eyes at Luke. "Oh look here comes a child" Louis states and everyone becomes quiet as Lux's comes up and sits on Ashton's lap. "Hi" Lux says cheekily as she looks up at Ashton. "Hello love, whatcha workin on over there?" He asks and points at the little's table. "Ponies because Lux and uncle Ashy both like ponies" she states and it makes Ashton smile. "You're right I do like ponies" he says and she smiles with all her teeth and nods. "Well I think it's time we get this show on the road! The last activity we have for today is a food fight. Over here we have two tables set up of food and it's your guys job to get rid of all of it on each other" Niall says through the mic. Lux makes a disgusted face and says "ew" and gets off Ashton to run to her parents car so she doesn't have to play. Everyone else gets up and walks over to the tables of food and waits for Niall. "Three" he whispers "two" he says in a normal tone "one! Go!" He shouts and food flys right away. I throw a nasty looking pie right at Ashton and it lands right in his hair and I can't help but laugh cause that was quite the shot. Mikey avenges the pie shot by getting a shit ton of spaghetti on my head and down my shirt and I glance back over to my right where Luke is, except he's not. I scan the yard for him and see him finally at the other end of the food tables with Jackson, aiming eggs right at me. When I notice that he is using the little that favourites me I make it a point to find Casper so I can have revenge. Casper is hiding under the table and I have to convince him to come out but when he does he has a lot of fun. He throws bowels of jello at his brother and evilly laughs as it lands in Jackson's lap. I glance around the yard and see that Michael has a pink cupcake smushed into his head and it makes me smile because Ashton probably did that because he calls Mikey cupcake. Liam has red frosting all over his face and Zayn has cake all over his chest, incidentally the cake that belongs to the frosting that is on Liam. Harry squirts chocolate sauce all over Louis back as he runs away with Lilliana who is covered in rainbow coloured icing. The whole event is just so colourful, messy, and fun and it just makes today so much more memorable. "What a fucking mess"  
 Luke says when he comes over to me after all the food is off the table and all over the ground. I give him a kiss, trying to get more food on him by hugging him and kissing him but I pull away after a few seconds and spit, and he laughs. "What ever the hell was in your mouth and what ever the hell was on my lips does not taste good together at all" I say and he laughs harder. I take a second to watch him laugh, adoring the way he squints his eyes, the way his nose scrunches, how he leans back slightly and the way his whole body shakes and it makes me forget all the problems in the world. His laugh is adorable and contagious so it makes me laugh too and he pulls me back in for another kiss but this time it doesn't taste horrid like the last one, this kiss taste like sugar and something sweet. "Better?" He asks cheekily and I nod. "Love you princess" he murmurs and leans into my side. We stand and watch for awhile, Lilliana and Lux still trying to get messy after we've already finished, Harry hosing off his sons, Niall packing up his equipment, Tom filling rubbish bins with scattered food from the ground, Lou tries to clean out Zayn's hair as Liam picks up the chairs and Mikey and Ash fold up the food tables.   
I find out that the couple that attended the party stay in the complex too, Nick and Cher and their little called Kenzi. They went back to their flat earlier because apparently Kenzi didn't fancy the water gun fight.   
"We should probably go help" I suggest and Luke nods. "What do you want us to do?" I ask Harry. "Er...uh... Oh well can you take the boys to our apartment and make sure they get all the food out of their hair?" He asks. Luke smiles and because he loves it whenever he has the opportunity to be with the little's. "Yeah sure we can do that" I say and Harry throws us his keys. Me and Luke go to search for the twins and as we're walking Luke says "wow Harry trusts us a whole hell of a lot." "What do you mean? Like giving us his flat keys?" I ask. "No like trusting us with the twins and I mean yeah going into his flat too but like we've only been here two weeks I don't know why he'd trust us so soon" he replies and I nod. "Well he knows where we live so..." I say and Luke laughs. "Oh come here Casper" Luke says as he spots Casper by the trees that are in the back of the yard. Casper walks over and Luke bends down and asks "where is Jackson?" Casper shrugs his shoulders and starts to walk away but Luke picks him up. "Not so fast Cassie we gotta take you home and give you a good hair washing" he says and holds Casper as he wiggles. "Wait look there's Jack" Luke says and points to the small set of stairs by the main office. I walk over with Luke close behind and I sit down next to Jackson. "Hey Jack, your dad wanted me to take you home and make sure you get your hair all cleaned out cause there's still food in it, bud" I say. "I hate getting my hair washed" he states and stares at the ground in front of him. "Hey man I'll make it fun" I offer and he turns his head to look at me with a skeptical look. "I had little's... Siblings at home and I used to help with their hair, I'll be gentle" I say. "Why didn't they come so we could all play?" He asks, innocently. "It's hard to explain, Jack, but we gotta get your hair clean, c'mon" I say and stick out my hand as I get up. He grabs my hand and all four of us walk to their apartment. When I unlock the door I expect it to be exactly like ours and our neighbours, but it's so much bigger. "He's the complex owner what do you expect" Luke states when he sees my surprise. "True" I agree and lean down to Jackson "where's your bathroom?" I ask and he pulls me by the hand to a very colourful bathroom. Jackson pulls a stool from the wall and pushes it up against the tub and stands on it till he can reach the shower water handle. Once the water is on they take their smelly shirts off and lean their heads into the water.


	2. Chapter 2

Ashton's point of view   
"Thanks guys" Harry says as we walk back to the flat. Michael grabs my hand and holds it as we walk back and it makes me smile.  "Can we just have a night in and cuddle cause I have to work tomorrow" I ask. "Of course sunshine" Michael says. "Is it okay if Lou colours my hair tomorrow?" He asks. I smile that he considered me and asked instead of just doing it. "Yeah cupcake what colour were you thinking of?" I ask. "Lilliana said bright red like a fire truck" he says and I roll my eyes in fondness. "So the little's are choosing your hair all the time now huh?" I mock and he pushes me with his shoulder. "She really likes me and Zayn and Liam are great guys so..." He supplies and I nod. "Lux has a thing for you, well your hair" he says and shakes his finger at me. "And I have a thing for your tiny fingers, they're fucking adorable" I say and grab his fingers and kiss them. He pulls his hand away from me and puts it in his pocket. "Hey give me that, I wasn't finished!" I exclaim and dive for his hand in his pocket. I pull it back out and continue to kiss his fingers and he blushes because that's always been something he's been insecure about.   
When we get inside our flat Luke and Calum aren't there and it surprises me because most of the time they solicit their couch, rather one of the living room couches. we call it their couch because they always use it when they want to have a cuddle and they call the other couch ours because we use it when we want to have a cuddle. "Surprise" Michael says in a mock excitement filled tone. "Right?" I agree. There's a knock on our door and I casually walk over to it and open it but Michael gets on the couch and pulls his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around himself. When I open the door Harry and Louis are standing outside the door. They hastily come inside and close the door and I see all the colour drain from Michael's face when he sees the worried looks on Harry and Louis faces. "What's going on?" I ask. "You said you were a runaway right? You left your house because your parents were homophobic?" Louis asks me. "Yeah, what are you leading to?" I ask, afraid of the answer. "And Michael you ran away from your parents because they were abusive and homophobic right? And you got majorly pushed around at school?" Louis asks and Michael nods and tears fill his eyes. "Two police men just gave us a similar description, both your full names and photos of you guys, and they're outside."  Louis says and grabs the back of his neck and puts a hand on his forehead. "W...what do we do? Are they gonna t...take us back?" Michael asks and it breaks my heart. "If we hid from them would they come back eventually?" I ask Harry. "Eventually but it might be awhile" he says. "Okay so can you hide us or give us a good place to hide?" I ask. It makes me feel like a little like I'm hiding from my mum when she comes to pick me up from a sleepover and I think that if I hide I won't have to go home. "Yeah. C'mon" Harry says and ushers to the door. "One sec" I say and run through the hall to our bedroom door. I grab the stuffed animal I got for Michael and I run into Cal and Luke's room and grab the penguin stuffed animal on their bed and I shove it in a market bag and come back out to the living room. "Okay we have to go get Luke and Calum, they're at our apartment" Harry says and starts to walk to the door. I rush over to Michael who is in between emotional shut down and severe panic attack. It hurts to see but I can't comfort him right now cause they'll be searching the flats any second. "Come on cupcake we have to find Luke and Calum" I say and start to help him off the couch. He walks really slowly and we really don't have time for this. "Hey Michael look at me" I say and pull his chin so I can look at him right in the eyes. "We need to run now so either you get on my back or you run with me okay?" I say and grab his hand. "Okay I'll...your back" he manages to say in a cracked voice. I turn around and have him hop on my back and I join Harry and Louis at the door. Harry opens it slightly and peers out before nodding his head and motioning us to come. We all walk on the balcony and Michael shakes like a leaf on my back. When we reach their flat Harry ushers is inside and Louis stays outside. I hear faint giggling as we walk deeper into the surprisingly large flat. Harry knocks on the door that the giggles are coming from and Luke opens it with a smile on his face and the towel in his hand is on Jack's head and is drying his hair. Luke get Calum, we have to go right now" Harry says calmly so he doesn't scare Luke or the little's. Luke gets a worried look on his face but obliges and grabs Calum by the wrist and says "we have to go" and pulls him out of the bathroom. When we are all out in the living room Harry sends Jack and Casper outside to meet Louis and has us quietly exit the back door. "In the other section of these apartments there's a room that still being remodelled and it has a bunch of building equipment and plastic all over the place, we can hide you guys there for awhile and even if the police do go in there they won't want to do a thorough search because that place is such a mess" Harry says and I nod. The colour drains from both Luke and Calum's faces and Calum mouths "police?" And I nod. He reaches over and puts his hands around Luke's waist as Luke stares at the ground and tears fill his eyes. Calum has to shake him and say things to him so he doesn't go into shut down mode. I open the bag on my wrist and grab the penguin pillow pet and hand it to Calum and he mouths "thank you" and presents it to Luke. My mum was a nurse and in panic situations she used to give us something that comforted us, summat we could hold on to, and it seemed to help. I get Michael's stuffed animal and hand it to him behind my back and I feel him hug it tightly against my back. Harry leads us through the back yard and pulls us swiftly into a back hall when we hear Louis' voice approaching with two other voices that are the patrolmen. "I can assure you we wouldn't take anybody into our apartments if we didn't do a wide search on them first" Louis lies, and makes his voice louder as he alarms is that they're coming. "Well we're going to need to check through each apartment, and your files for recent apartment renters" on of the patrolman says. "I'll go find my husband so we can get those files open for you" Louis says loudly, and Harry gets the point to get us to the flat to hide us so he can go and hide our files. We sneak around the corner and we find the flat eventually and Harry tells us to hide wherever. Me and Michael duck into a bunch of cabinets and Calum applies yellow caution tape to the cabinets so there is less of a chance the patrolmen have of opening it. I hear a door close and I assume Luke and Cal have hidden in a closet. Louis texts me once and says "coming" to let us know. I show Michael the text and put my finger to my lips in the "shhh" gesture and wait for them. I put my arm around Michael and stroke his arm to reassure him we're going to be okay. He still clutches the stuffed lion and stares at me with fear in his eyes, and I know he's thinking "I can't go back there, they'll actually kill me" and the thought of it brings tears to my eyes because they would actually kill him for running away with me and it's so horrid that a parent would do that to you and the fact that he took a beating every day for me and Luke and Calum just makes his time here all the more safe because if he went back to his parents he would die. "Hey, listen to me, you aren't going to go back to your parents, I've got you" I whisper to him and hug him tightly. Voices approach and as the door opens Harry says "this is one of the apartments we've been remodelling, please take caution; as the tape states." We hear the floorboards creaking and one of the patrolmen says "well gentlemen thank you for seeing us through this and please don't hesitate to call us with any information about Ashton, Calum, Michael, and Luke." And their footsteps get quieter after the door gets closed and locked. Louis texts "all clear" and I begin to get out of the cabinet and help my boyfriend out of the cabinet. When Michael is out and has stopped shaking we go into the closets in the flat until we find the one that Calum and Luke are hiding in. "We're okay they're gone" I say as soon as I open the door. Luke immediately jumps out and hugs Michael tightly and cries slowly. "You aren't going back to them okay, we've got you" Luke says, but doubt fills his voice. Calum gives me an apologetic look and we all know this pains Michael the most because he couldn't bear his parents this time and we all know that. I think of ways that I can get Michael to snap out of his shut down mode and I quickly send off a text to Zayn before I'm leading Michael back to our flat. We sit down on our couch once inside and I scoot close to him and we cuddle. When some people get panicky they want everyone as far away as possible but Michael likes it and it seems to work better when people are so close to him that he can't breathe and that causes him not to explode and start crying or screaming because he feels safe with people all around him and on top of him holding him tight. I wouldn't like that personally but I'm not Michael.   
There's a knock at the door and I can feel Michael tense up. Calum goes and opens it and Lilliana comes in and says "uncle Mikey, papa said you were feeling sad and I'm here to cheer you up!" And she runs to him to sit on his lap. I make room for her and she sits on him but he's still zoned out. "Hey uncle Mikey are you hungry... cause I'm hungry?" She asks and there's an underlining tone to her voice that's slightly hinting towards something. "Do you wanna order a... Pizza?" She asks with a grin and that makes a small grin spread across his face. "Okay Lilliana" he says and nods to me. I quickly order the pizza as Lilliana talks to him about everything, asking about his stuffed lion and she manages to get a few sentences and smiles out of him and it makes me smile to see her perched on his knee looking up into his eyes whilst complimenting him on how cute the little lion is. "Why do ring bells scare you?" Lilliana asks innocently. I can hear Calum inhale in surprise and I cringe at the question, afraid of what his reaction is gonna be. "Because I'm afraid of what's going on behind it, what will happen when it's opened" he says and I sigh in relief that he took that question well, after all Lilly is just an innocent 5 year old who asks innocent questions like all little's do. Lilliana nods and seems to understand.  
 "Someone should stand outside so when the pizza comes the ring bell doesn't ding dong and scare uncle Mikey" Lilliana says cutely and immediately Calum jumps over both couches and races to the door and it makes me smile because he cares for Michael that much that he will run to the door and stop the delivery man so he doesn't ring the bell so Mikey doesn't get scared again. Calum reaches the door just in time because when the door flies open there's a pizza delivery man reaching for the bell. I sigh in relief and hand Luke the money to bring to Calum so he can pay for the pizza. Lilliana puts her hands through Michael's magenta hair and asks him questions up and down. "Pizza uncle Mikey!" She exclaims when she sees the pizza box. She hops off his lap and grabs a slice from the box before I can even set it down on the table and she's already offering it to him as soon as she gets back to Mikey and it makes me smile.  -------- Luke's point of view   
Calum gives me a look that's between "eat the pizza god damn it" and "please eat the pizza" and it intimidates me enough to grab a slice. I stare down at the gooey, cheesy, greasy pizza and I close my eyes before eating the first bite. Sure, it tastes great but I don't deserve this. I realise then that this whole controlled eating thing that's been going on is because I feel like I don't deserve what I have because of who I am. After I eat the whole slice sans the crust I walk to the couch and sit across from Michael. "I love you" I tell him and tap his knee before getting back up and going to mine and Calum's room. I get on the bed and curl up inside all the blankets and hug my penguin tightly and tears come to my eyes. I shake my head quickly and clear my throat because I'm not a fucking 14 year old girl that cries when she has to eat and is unhappy with her life. Calum comes in shortly after and cuddles up behind me and wipes his thumbs at my eyes and doesn't say a word.   
"Do you know how much it would have hurt all of us if we'd been found, let alone getting shipped back to Australia and having to face our parents again?" I say. "But we're okay... so don't worry" he says and puts his chin in my neck. "I think... I think that my eating problem is cause I have a hard time thinking I deserve anything, and not eating is just one of my ways of showing myself that" I say to him, but struggle for the right words to properly explain myself. "Lukey please don't say that. You deserve to eat and you deserve love and maybe it's my fault, maybe I'm doing the same thing as your family and not loving you like I should and it's my fault that you feel like you don't deserve anything because I'm treating you like that" he confesses and it breaks my heart. "No. No..." I deny "it's the opposite, you love me so much that I feel like it's too much and it overwhelms me to the point where I think that it shouldn't be me because I'm not worth all the love you put into me, that it should be some other lucky guy or girl that looks gorgeous hanging off your neck and makes you as happy as you make them...." He shakes his head and cuts me off "don't ever say that. There's nobody i'd rather be with in the world so please don't think like that. You deserve every little bit of good in your life and you don't deserve controlled eating and all the other things that have happened to you when we were back there" he says. I roll over so I'm facing him and he's got watery eyes and he just hugs me and rubs my back and whispers a mantra of "I love you" and it really just fills me up again. "Thank you" is the last thing I say before drifting off to sleep.   
When I wake up Calum isn't next to me, but when I scan the room he is over at the desk in the corner and is giving Jack bass lessons. It makes a small smile spread across my face and I lay quietly watching them as Calum shows him a few things. "So if you put your fingers here..." He says and moves Jacks fingers "and here, this is called a C, so with the C you hit it every couple of seconds and that's a frequency, and you can't really hear it in songs unless you pay attention but the song would be totally off if it wasn't there" he says, and jack plays a few notes, obviously it's a bit choppy but it really surprises me on how well he's doing for five years old. "The bass is really undermined, you know what that means?" Calum asks. "Like people don't give enough credit" Jack says and Calum nods. "It sort of pulls the song together, like it helps the singer, guitarist and drummer and any other percussionist all work together because they know what cues they have because of it" Calum explains as Jack keeps practicing the C note. "Okay now let's try to switch to the B" Calum says and Jack wastes no time moving his fingers and hitting the B note and giving a little more rhythm to his last pattern. "Great great jack that's great" Calum says and a smile spreads on his face. Jack laughs at his success, proud of himself for being able to play a few notes and that's really all someone needs to be able to be happy sometimes. "I want to show my daddies" Jack proudly says. "Alright let's go then" Calum agrees and stands up. I fake sleep when I hear Calum coming over to our bed and I can't help but smile when he kisses my foreheads and says "goodbye" and then whispers "I knew you were awake the whole time Lukey." They walk out and I wait till they're gone to get up and go to my dresser and throw on the first shirt I see which happens to be a Misfits tank, I don't bother putting jeans on because there's no point and all the other guys walk around in their briefs so why can't i? When I get to the living room Michael and Ashton are heatedly kissing; Michael straddling Ashton on one of the kitchen chairs and he has what looks like a flower crown in his magenta hair and before I see any more I spin on my heel and go back to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically this is the part where the message comes in, the point I'm trying to get across whilst writing this! So basically I've gone through a lot of stuff and I wanted to use it as an example. Don't ever doubt yourself and hold your head up high! x

Michael's point of view   
When I open my eyes and blink the sleep out of them I see Ashton wrapped up in all the blankets and it makes me smile and I wrap my arms around him. His eyes flutter open and he blinks the sleep out of his eyes as well and stares at me in silence but with a content and still sleepy smile on his face. "All day, all night, I got the lights in my eyes, and I'm falling for you, keep cool, stay young, but that's never enough, these are the lessons in love" flashes through my head and I hum along. I put little kisses all over his forehead and he giggles whilst he plugs his nose, unhappy with my morning breath. "Okay okay I'll go brush" I say and begin to slide out of the bed. He follows seconds later and when we are in the bathroom he pushes his smaller frame into my chest as we both stare in the mirror whilst brushing our teeth. It seems like such a cliche couple thing to do but it really makes him adorable when his shoulders are slightly shorter than mine and my lips are in line with his ears. After we brush he pulls me back into our room and throws black sweat pants and one of his hoodies at me, watching as I put them on. I close my eyes like always and I wait till the sleeves and the hems are all in the right places before I open my tightly shut eyes and the look on Ashton's face tells me that it makes him sad that I don't want to look at myself. "I don't wanna see yet" I say and he nods, understanding.  
 He puts on one of my hoodies and slips on a pair of flannel pyjama pants and pulls me out to the living room. I sit at the bar and watch as he goes through the cabinets in search for some brek. I look down at my lap not even for half a second and I hear a loud crash and tiny bits of colour spills all over. I look up at Ashton and the surprised look on his face makes me laugh but he gives me an upset pout and says "I guess we're not eating fruit loops for brekkie" and I nod and shrug my shoulders because he's hella wrong if he thinks I'll eat food that fell on the floor. He keeps going through the cabinets and pantry, being careful and eventually he pulls out rice cakes and hands one to me. "No, hell no, go grab plates" I say and point to the cabinets as he bites into his rice cake. "Moody OCD bursts was not on the contract" He says as he hands me a plate from the cabinet. "And neither was messiness" I add and he covers his face with his hands. The doorbell rings and I tense up and start to draw my knees to my chest but Ashton pushes my knees back down and pulls my head up so he's looking at me eye to eye and he says "it's just the postman cupcake don't get scared" and he goes to the door. When he opens it, it is in fact the postman with a thin package, about the size of box that a laptop would come in. He takes the package and thanks the guy and closes the door quickly and brings the package to the kitchen table and sits down. From about 10 feet away I watch him open it, perched on a barstool while he's on the kitchen table. He laughs at me and says "oh my god Michael it's not a bomb" and then his voice turns soft as he says "it's for you" and slowly I let my legs down and walk over to see what it is. As soon as he opens the package he peers inside and smiles wide and it makes me curious so I walk over to see what it is. A mix of pastel colours come out, pink, purple, and green, and when it's fully out of the box I recognise it as one of those flower crown things that a lot of girls wear. I raise my eyebrow and give him a questionable look. "I uh, saw a bunch of guys wearing these on tumblr and... And I thought you'd look cute in one so..." He supplies and pulls me to the computer and pulls up a tag with guys wearing flower crowns, and he's actually right, a lot of these guys look cute in them, I can see the appeal, but it's just sort of interesting that he'd buy one for me.  
 Calum and Jack come out of Cal and Luke's room carrying Cal's bass and they give us a quick wave before exiting the flat. I go back to the box and put it on and immediately a smile grows on my boyfriends face. He takes a picture of me and I steal his mobile to look at the picture and when I'm not happy with the picture I try to take one that I like. He gives up and sits down on a chair from the kitchen and I walk over and sit on him, facing him with each leg on the sides of the chair. As I try to take a better picture of me for his mobile he bites my neck to try and give me a hickey. "Oh you want to play dirty like that huh?" I ask, and he grins a devilish grin and slowly nods his head. "Okay" I announce and grab both sides of his face and move up slightly on his lap so he is pushed all the way up against the back of the chair and my body is flushed with his. It flusters him and I can see a colour rising in his cheeks when I bring my hands up and hold his head right behind his ears, locking eyes the whole time. I abruptly move his head so his neck is fully accessible and I bite down and give him a worse hickey then the one I can feel rising on my white as hell skin that you can see everything on, and that's why he does it. After I leave the hickey mark I give him a kiss, still holding his head and the little moans that escape his mouth go straight to my crotch. Luke chooses now out of all times to come out of his and Cal's room and when he sees us he scoffs and spins on his heel to go back to his room. I laugh whilst in the kiss because he didn't even see what just happened.  ---------- Calum's point of view  
"We're here to give you an update on what he's learned" I say as Louis opens his flat door. "Oh sounds great!" He says in a chipper tone and ushers us inside. "Harry get in here our son wants to show us something" Louis yells and Harry comes in the room seconds later and that makes me smile. Jackson sits on a ottoman in the living room and I set the bass down on his lap and his smile is wide. "So this called a C" he says, and gestures his head to the strings on the neck and his finger placing and then he nods to his hand that's doing a riff on the strings. I look up for a half a second to Louis and Harry and the smiles on their faces are so much more then the 'proud parent' look and that makes me so happy that I can help do that for Jackson. As I watch Jackson looks up at me and I give him a slight nod and then he moves his finger placement and says "and this is a B" and he hits the riff a few more times before looking up and giggling at his parents proud faces. He hands me the bass back and smiles widely with a hopeful look on his face and a slight grin as he sways his crossed legs. "That was great Jackson, you're doing so well" Louis says and Harry nods in agreement. "Every Little and littler could form a band if you think about it" Harry states and it confuses me. "Like all you guys are teaching our kids how to play your instruments, and you guys play those instruments, so you four could form a band and then when these guys are older they can too" Harry says, motioning to Jack as he finishes. I nod and say "yeah I mean like all four of us have played together but we never took it as far as like forming an actual band and stuff" and he nods. "Well if you ever consider doing that my guy Nick, the one who was at the barbecue, he has a studio and he could do the recording for you" Harry offers. "Wow yeah I'll mention it to the lads" I say. "Alright well I think that's concludes today's concert! We will be back when we've learned more for sure!" I say to Louis and Harry. "Great thanks Calum" Louis says and I walk out of their flat.  
 It takes me about three minutes to walk back to ours but as soon as I get back I'm met with a very improper act being done in the kitchen. "God fucking damn it this is not what a kitchen is for! Go swallow each other's saliva and other things in your own goddamned bedroom!" I scold at Michael and Ashton. "Don't act like you and Luke haven't got just as frisky in your own fucking kitchen" Michael says with a grin pulling on his lips. "That's fucking diffe..." I cut myself off when I see that neither are listening. "Okay you know what, fuck it all. Fuck each other right on our damn table, I'm sure nobody would mind all the things your bodies have to offer all over our fucking table" I mutter as I throw my hands in the air and walk into our room. Luke laughs at my frustration and in return I throw stuffed animals at him. "I'm always the one to walk in on them! Damn it do you know how messed up it is for me to see my two best friends practically fucking each other?!" I exclaim and Luke just rolls his eyes. Our room gets quiet as I walk around picking up the stuffed animals and   
Luke lays there but then I hear it, a moan of Luke's name and I swear to god it sounds just like Mikey. I look up at Luke in silence and he raises an eyebrow and then we both hear Ashton really loudly moan "Calum" and Luke starts laughing hysterically. Luke is laughing so hard and loud and tears are rolling down his face and he's clapping his hands together, and it only frustrates me more. "You can't laugh Luke that's encouraging them to mock us more!" I exclaim and he just shakes his head and wipes his eyes. Other pet names like "princess" and "Lukey" come from Ashton and Michael, majorly exaggerated and in mockingly girly tones. Two can play at this game, I think to myself, and grab my radio and turn it up as loud as I can and I place it on the pop station where something from Ariana Grande plays and I smile devilishly. This will totally get under Michael's skin because he has a thing against Ariana apparently. They stop mocking us and it gets quiet in the living room for a minute before there's a huge kick at out door and Michael yells "we're going to our room okay Princess calm the fuck down" and slams their bedroom door. I turn the radio off also slightly bugged by Ariana's voice and happily smile because I can finally go to the living room. I go over to our bed and scoop up my boyfriend who is balled up and half asleep curled around his baby penguin. I chuckle at the sight but carry him to the couch we frequent and set him down and curl up against him. "Hemmo is tired huh?" I ask in a little's voice and a small smile pulls at his lips. "Hemmo is tired and just wants his princess to cuddle" he says cheekily and I pull him closer and put both my arms around his middle and rest my head on his chest. "Let's just sleep here" Luke mumbles. "Okay Lukey. Love you" I say, and fall asleep with Lithium by Nirvana stuck in my head.  ----------- Ashton's point of view   
"You suck Michael Clifford" I groan as I wake up and and rub two hands over my face. "I suck you" he says smugly and I face palm. "I swear to god. What planet did you come from?" I ask rehotorically. "That's actually a really good question." Michael states and I laugh in agreement. "So what do we do today, I'm not really familiar with this whole weekend thing? I usually sit in my room under the duvet playing summat on play station." He says and I roll my eyes. "Nerd" I say and he laughs. "We could go for a walk and look at shoppes" I suggest and he looks out the window "whilst the sun is out?" He asks in all seriousness and I sigh. "Yes Michael Clifford whilst the sun is out like a normal person" I say. "But were not trying to be like a normal person" he says innocently and I can't agree more. "Well. Whatever let's just ask the blokes what they want to do" I say and begin to walk out of our room in aim for theirs.   
He follows close behind and we just walk in their room without knocking and they're not there. We walk out of their room and into the living room and they're having a cuddle and Michael yells "corporate cuddle" and falls on top of them and of course I do too.  "What do you two want to do today? I was thinking going on a walk or summat by the shoppes?" I suggest. "Yeah I really wanna check out that music shoppe Zayn was telling me about" Calum says, muffled by bodies piled on top of him. "But I don't want to walk" Luke groans and Michael agrees. "We have some lazy boyfriends don't we?" I whisper to Calum and he grins and nods. "M'sure Zayn would let you borrow Lilly's stroller" I mutter and Luke gives me a playful shove. "Bastard" I say and he laughs. "We could always make them carry us" I hear Michael whisper to Luke. "Yeah that's a good one mate" Luke whispers back. "Princess will you carry me?" Luke asks in the most sad voice he can muster. "No" Calum says and keeps laying there. "Oh how to tables have turned" Michael whispers to me and I laugh. "Pwease?" Luke asks in a little's voice. "No" Calum repeats. "Princess?" Luke pries and Calum can't help but break into a smile. "Whatever" Calum says whilst laugh and now it's Michael's turn to ask me. "I could use the nickname approach and butter you up and then ask you or I could just ask you plain out so that's what I'm going to do" Michael states and then says "pumpkin, sugar pie, sunshine, butterscotch would you carry me with those sexy strong arms, please baby cakes?" And I can't help but laugh hysterically. "Oh my god" Calum says in between laughs. Luke slaps Michael's knee whilst laughing and the giant smile on Michael's face shows that he's proud for making us all laugh hysterically. "But really I do think your arms are sexy" he adds and flutters his eyelashes at me. I give him a playful shove on the shoulders, being careful of his sensitive body from the abuse, and then stand up so he can get on my back. Calum picks up Luke as I go with Michael to our room so I can grab my wallet and keys. "Michael damn it grab the keys off the dresser and go in my top drawer and grab my wallet" I say as I lean by my dresser whilst still holding under his thighs. He grabs the keys and holds the loop on his finger and when he slides my wallet in my back pocket he takes advantage of the position his hand is in and grabs my ass. "Fuckin thirsty bastard" I mutter as we walk out of our room and he giggles in my ear.  
We walk out of the flat and Calum and Luke trail behind. I hold Michael as he locks up and clips the keys to my belt loop. "Thanks cupcake" I say and kiss his cheek. We walk and I smile to myself enjoying the cool breeze and the company of my three best mates. Laughs go around and smiles spread on all of our faces and I wouldn't have it any other way.   
As we arrive to the town and all the small shoppes are busy with people we find it nice to see a lot of people in a small town. We walk past a few small shoppes including the pizza place me and Mikey went on the first day. We get a few judgemental looks because we are carrying our boyfriends but I don't give a fuck.   
"Oh my god were going inside now" Calum says and speeds up to go inside a shoppe that happens to be a pet shoppe. "Oh my god Luke it's so cute can we have one?" Calum asks as he approaches a kennel with an adorable mostly black puppy with a white patch of fur around his neck and brown around his ankles and the brightest blue eyes. Calum drops Luke off his back and immediately sticks his fingers between the kennel door to pet the pup. "But look at this kitty" Luke says and walks over to a kennel with a striped kitten inside. I roll my eyes at both boys and I put Michael down so he can go look at what he wants. I walk to Calum and laugh at him as he talks to the dog in a little's voice. "Don't promise anything Calum we aren't getting a dog" I say and he looks up a me with a sad look "but mate I already promised this whole pet shoppe that we'd buy them" Calum says and I face palm. "Well then you got some 'splainin' to do because we ain't getting any of them" I say with a laugh and Calum gives me a pouty face.  
 A teen girl with the shoppes logo on her shirt comes from behind a few shelves and smiles when she sees Calum talking to the puppy and asks "would you like to hold him?" And I swear to god Calum's eyes light up as a huge smile spreads across his face. "Yes please" he says and she begins opening the kennel. I roll my eyes as Calum uses the hand sanitiser to clean his hands before he touches the puppy. "Ahhh hello little one" he says as the girl hands Cal the puppy. The puppy licks Calum's nose and Calum chuckles and says "puppy breath" and squints his eyes closed. I sneeze a few times and I hear Michael say something to Luke about how I'm allergic to pussy's and I can hear them both laughing. "Michael Clifford this is a pet shoppe keep it PG" I say and he winks at me from where him and Luke are standing, Luke holding a kitten and if I wasn't allergic I would buy it for him just to see that look on his face all day. The girl that opened the cage for Calum says "his name is Chocolate after the song by The 1975" and Calum smiles wide at that. "I love them" he says and the girls heart eyes get bigger. "He's part husky which explains the blue eyes and pointy ears and part Rottweiler which is why he's mostly all black, and he's about four months old" the girl says, a certain tone lacing her voice like she is trying to impress Calum. Luke and Michael come up seconds later and I smile as Luke steps in between the girl and Calum. The girl notices and shoots a glare at Luke when he's not looking and I roll my eyes. "Did ya see that?" Michael whispers to me and points between the girl and Luke. "Yeah I did, she's so daft" I say and he nods. Michael then takes the liberty of saying "he's gay" whilst coughing so it's subtle but Luke looks up and smiles wide at Michael when neither the girl or Calum seem to notice. "You're really good with him, I think he likes you" the girl says and me and Michael both snicker as Luke rolls his eyes. Calum ignores her and continues playing with the puppy and talking to it in a quiet but higher pitched voice. "His eyes remind me of yours" Calum says and looks up at Luke. Luke smiles devilishly and places a kiss on Calum's cheek for extra effect and the look on the girls face, one eyebrow up and her mouth halfway open sends Michael into a fit of laughter and he walks out of the shoppe and sits on the curb holding his sides. The girl walks away and mutters "put him back when you're done... Please" and the prideful look on Luke's face is enough to make me laugh because Calum was so oblivious to it all because of his adoration for the puppy. "Calum we've got other places to go to and I bet you Michael is dying for pizza any moment so let's get going" I say and Calum whines. To validate my statement Michael comes back into the store, cheeks still stained red from the laughter and he asks "so when's pizza time?" Calum rolls his eyes ands sighs. "We'll be back for you Chocolate" Calum whispers and kisses the puppy on the nose. I roll my eyes but consider it a possibility. Calum puts Chocolate back in the kennel and Luke immediately wraps an arm around his waist and as we walk out he knocks a few things off a shelf to attract attention and when the girl comes up and sees Luke's arm around Calum's waist as they both pick up the dropped items she glares at Luke and Michael snickers. "Sorry about that" Luke says with a grin to the girl as he picks up the last of what he dropped. Calum hands him one more from off the floor and Luke takes it and puts it back on the shelf and says "thanks princess" and kisses Calum on the cheek and walks out past me and Michael with a large smile on his face. Again Mikey coughs "he's gay" into his fist as we walk out, a bit louder than the last time and the girl groans and yells "I get it!" And Michael laughs as he ushers me out of the shoppe.   
As soon as were outside Luke turns around and fist bumps Michael and says "mate that was sick and fuckin hilarious" and Michael laughs in agreement. Calum looks up with a confused look on his face, apparently still oblivious as to what just happened and that's classic Calum. "Wait what?" He asks. "Mate that girl was flirting with you the whole time and giving you heart eyes" Michael says and Calum raises an eyebrow. "But Luke here showed her who's boss" Michael adds and Luke smiles. "Wait that whole knocking stuff over on the shelf and kissing me twice on the cheek and putting your arm on my waist was to show her that I'm yours?" Calum asks. "Well yeah and I do enjoy kissing you and holding you too though" he says with a cheeky grin and Calum smiles. "Well that was slightly rude but I like that you did that cause it shows how much you love me" and then he grabs Luke and kisses him. "Okay we're in public" Michael says shyly, slightly intimidated by all the people around. They break off their kiss and I put an arm around Michael and lean into his ear and whisper "new life, new rules." His lips purse and a slight wrinkle forms between his brow but he nods. "How about that pizza, cupcake?" I ask, and he immediately lights up. "yum" he says with a cheeky smile on his face and turns us to the direction of the pizza place.   
We pass a lot of people and after Michael gets shoulder checked once on accident I wrap both my arms around him, and it scares the shit out of him because it takes him right back to our hallways at school and the abuse and it hurts me to see him like that, not to mention the accidental shoulder check could have hit a bruise that's been there since the day before we left. On his pale skin the bruises take awhile to go away so that's only going to make it worse. "C'mon" I say as I usher Michael inside the pizza place.  --------- Luke's point of view  
The smell of pizza fills my nose as we enter the small restaurant and I slightly cringe. I look over to my side where Calum is and I try and see if he noticed but he didn't and I'm thankful. We sit at a table for four and an older female waitress comes up and asks us what we'd like to drink. "Coke" "coke" "Pepsi" and "water" goes up throughout our table and everyone stares at me when I say water. I nervously play with my lip piercing and stare at the table. The waitress  clears her throat and says "okay I'll be right back" and walks off. "You okay?" Calum asks and grabs my hand under the table. "M'fine" I say and rest my head into his shoulder. "Tell me if you're not please" he says and looks me in the eyes. I nod and when the waitress gets back with our drinks I take mine and say "thanks" and take a few sips. "That's my ankle you twat" Michael says to Calum and he blushes a bright pink. "Wasn't the ankle I was aiming for" he says and does a nervous laugh. I feel his ankle against mine under the table and I roll my eyes because that's such a 14 year old thing to do. "So large sausage?" Michael asks. Calum nods his head and so does Ashton and the votes aren't in my favour anyway so I just nod. The waitress comes by and takes our order and we sit and talk for awhile. "I feel like we need to go to a concert or summat" Ashton says. "That actually sounds really fun, I'll look into it when we get home" Calum says. "Pizza!" The waitress says enthusiastically and places the pizza that's cut into squares on the table in front of us. "You deserve to eat, you deserve love, you deserve Calum, you deserve..." I try to say to myself, but I shake it out of my head. I can't do that. My stomach rumbles and I sort of like it, it's like a reminder that I'm still alive and this isn't a dream and I won't wake up back in Australia with a cold bed and no friends.   
"Dive dive dive" Ashton says and Michael laughs as he dives into the pizza. Pieces plop on his plate and when As tries to get a piece Michael tickles him, and goes back to getting his piece for him. Calum puts three medium size slices on my plate and four on his. None of us get sick of having pizza and I think that's bless because if we did then we wouldn't know what else to eat. I remind myself that it's okay to eat and I need it to live as I pick up the first slice. Thankfully Calum doesn't stare at me and Ash and Mike are too lost in playing around with each other to notice me anyway so I take a bite of the slice, and I enjoy it, but a tiny voice inside is telling me "you don't deserve this, you ran away, you left everybody, you should die" and I close my eyes and put my head down. Calum places a reassuring hand on my thigh and moves hid fingers around in meaningless patterns to tell me it's okay. I look back up and shove the pizza in my mouth and try to enjoy it because fuck that voice and whatever it says, I do deserve this and I do deserve Calum, but what I don't deserve is the looks I would get at school or the teasing and I didn't deserve to see my best mate being abused by everyone and his parents. When I come to that realisation and try so hard to believe it it makes eating a lot easier.   
We enjoy our time and as usual the whole pizza disappears over laughs, joking teases and quick kisses. We pay for our meal, everyone chipping in, and Michael reminds Ashton to tip. "Tip? You mean like give the waitress money?" Calum asks. "Yeah Cal in America that's what they do I guess, like it's considered rude if you don't" Ashton says and Calum marvels. "Tom gave me the Robin Williams film Hook, we should go home and watch it" Mikey says and Calum nods with a smile. We all get up and thank the waitress and Mikey makes it a point to tell her that we'll be back and all I do is laugh because typical Mikey. "Want me to give you a ride this time Princess?" I ask Calum and he smiles and says "I'd like that." He walks close to me and puts his hands on my waist and trails his fingers all the way up my sides and around my jaw and places a kiss on my lips and abruptly moving quickly behind me and jumping on my back and I grab underneath his thugs for support. "O...kay" Michael says as he watches the exchange and him getting on my back and Calum flashes him the middle finger. "So does that mean I have to ask you if you want me to carry you?" Michael asks Ashton, bluntly. "No it's okay I'll walk" Ash replies and grabs Michael's hand and kisses his knuckles once as they walk in front of us.  
 Calum points to a music shoppe as "the one Zayn was tellin me about" and we walk in aim for it. A bell rings as we walk in and Mumford & Sons plays softly through the shoppe speakers. We all spread out after I put Calum down; Michael not surprising me by rushing to the Metallica Albums. I follow Calum as he flicks through sleeves of old records and the shoppe gives off good vibes despite the stereotypical scent of slight mould and 'your aunts basement' sort of scent. Ashton marvels as he flips through album after album of Led Zeppelin and I find myself enjoying the shoppe and the fact that the boys are too. "Look Lukey" Calum says as he pulls out the Nevermind album by Nirvana and smiles widely. I put down the translucent twenty one pilots album and go over to look at the album Calum is holding proudly. "Fuckin sick" I whisper and Cal nods as he hands me the album. Sure, we've both got this whole album on iTunes but it's so much cooler to hold it on vinyl and see their logo printed on a slightly worn out sleeve. "I know we don't have a record player but we should seriously buy this" he says and I nod. "We could buy a whole bunch of 'em and put 'em up on our wall" I add and he vigorously nods, loving the idea. "You do not need another pair of drumsticks" I hear Michael scold and look over to see Ashton eyeing the drumsticks display. "Uh uh" Michael interrupts as Ashton tries to speak. Calum snickers and Michael shoots him a look that screams "back off" and all I can do is roll my eyes. "Okay so this one is seven dollars, and they have a one dollar and five dollar display over there" Calum says, and points to a display that verifies his statement with large "$1" and "$5" signs. We walk over with our Nirvana album and Calum pulls out three right off the bat. "Five dollars?!" He half asks, half exclaims. The albums he pulls out are all iconic, Slippery When Wet from Bon-Jovi, American Psycho from The Misfits and Big Ones from Aerosmith. I nod in agreement. I find a few that I like and a few that I'm not very familiar with but I like because of the sleeve design that I'd like to see on our wall or at least one song that I do know. "We don't have a record player you idiots, what are you gonna do, fuckin hang them on your wall and look at them?" Michael asks sarcastically as he sees our stack that Calum is holding. "Actually yeah sorta" Calum admits with blushing cheeks. "Tumblr hipsters" Michael mutters as he walks in aim for Ashton who is again flipping through my sleeves of the best oldies like AC/DC, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and KISS. I admire our stack of so far of 10 albums. I walk over to the 'sleeves but no record' container and easily grab five great ones because they're 50¢ each. "Okay you get to pick the last one" I say as Calum approaches. He nods and starts to flick through the empty sleeves till he finds a Ramones sleeve and I smile when he drops it in out stack.  
 "Thirty dollars even" the bloke says from behind the counter. The first thing I, and probably everyone else notices is his red hair but I also notice how friendly he looks and his soft voice is inviting enough and the atmosphere in his shoppe nice enough that I might frequent it. Calum hands over the American bills and thanks the bloke. "What are you gonna do with these baby's if you don't mind me asking?" He asks. "Hang 'em up on our wall" Calum says and gestures to me. A realisation flashes on the blokes face and he says "hey you four are the Aussies staying at Louis and Harry's places right?" He asks and points out the window, in the general direction of where the flat complex is. "Yeah that's us. I'm Calum, this is my boyfriend Luke, That's Michael with the Magenta hair and Ashton is the one that obviously doesn't have magenta hair" Calum says and I smile and slight wave at the bloke. "I'm Ed, Harry is a buddy of mine, he told me about four Australians that had moved into his apartment complex about three, four weeks ago and he told me you were amazing guys, said all good things, and you get on with his sons really well. Could sorta guess because the accent and Harry said one of you four has brilliant hair from Lou" he says, and gestures to Michael who isn't aware we are talking about him. it enlightens me that Harry likes us genuinely enough to tell his friends about us. "Well there you go, and it's nice to meet you" Calum says and awkwardly reaches his hand over the counter to shake which is not really our thing. "Mutual, have a nice day" he says and waves as we head to the doors. Michael has his hands wrapped around Ashton's waist and is leaning into him from behind, resting his chin on Ashton's shoulder as Ashton flips through more records and comments on them. "You ready ladies?" Calum asks in a mock American accent that sounds horrid enough to make me laugh. "Yeah let's go" Ashton says and tries to brush Michael off him so he can walk towards the doors behind me and Calum.   
As soon as we get outside I let Calum back on my back with the records and sleeves hanging in a bag loosely off his wrist. Michael and Ashton walk hand in hand all the way home, Michael's eyes down to avoid the judgemental looks from some people we pass. Sometimes I want to quote lyrics to people but I'd feel weird and they probably not understand. Right now I'd quote Michael the song Life of The Party by Shawn Mendes, especially the chorus that says "we don't have to be ordinary, make our best mistakes, we don't have the time to be sorry" but he'd probably look at me like I've grown a second head or he'd laugh in my face because that song is meant for a girl. I feel a bit of pride swell in my chest when I see Ashton with his head high and no fear of other people's opinions, and that's one of the reasons why I admire him so much because he doesn't care who is watching when he is being real. A few times Ashton slings his arms around Michael's shoulders to protect him from people touching and bumping him rather harshly as we pass larger groups on the small sidewalk and that's another reason I admire him because he is so gentle, loving, protective, and caring with my best friend.  ---------- Michael's point of view   
"I love Rufio" Calum states as I start to put the film on. "He's pretty badass" I agree and he smiles. I can see Ashton and Luke shaking their heads at each other and I laugh. When the film is set up and the menu is playing Ashton comes in the living room with my oatmeal cookies and places them on my lap. Luke and Calum sit down on their couch seconds later and Ashton starts the movie with the remote and cuddles into my side. "Love you" I whisper in his ear and he smiles and kisses me.   
Robin Williams voice fills through our living room and I find myself laughing at Calum and Luke as they both quote all the best parts. With Ashton's arms wrapped around my waist and his head resting on my tummy, I smile. Sure, I get scared shitless sometimes but I honestly could not ask for a better time than this. Feeling Ashton's whole body shake as he laughs is better than any drug on the planet.   
The next morning I wake up so warm and really comfortable and without opening my eyes I smile because this is amazing. I already know Ashton's arms are wrapped around my middle and his head is in my neck and I laugh at myself because I do not remember him carrying me to our room last night cause I passed out during the movie. "Good morning cupcake" he mumbles. "Hi, I would love to stay here and cuddle but I really gotta take a pee" I say and he laughs. "Okay okay I'll let you go" he says, but doesn't let go. "Sometime this month?" I ask and he laughs again. It gets quiet for awhile and I sigh. "whatever, I'm not the cleaning lady so I don't have to wash urine off sheets" I say nonchalantly and immediately he jumps up so I can get up cause he is the cleaning lady. I smirk as I get up and he glares at me as I walk out the door.   
When I get into the bathroom I do something I haven't in a very long time. I look in the mirror. I'm scared as hell for what I think I'm going to see but what I actually see isn't that bad. With only my briefs on I can see my chest and legs, all the parts I have avoided looking at at all costs, all the parts I try so hard to cover up. There's a scar on my hip from when my stepdad shoved me into the corner of the marble countertop, and the scar still intimidates me but for the first time I take a good look at it. It looks quite gross and I could probably tack on a better story for it, like I got bit by a pitbull or attacked by a shark. I scan my body for other marks, and it surprises me when I look at my stomach and see a v line, but my skin surprising more because it's mostly white. I've gotten so used to it always being purple and blue, but right now I can only see light traces of purple and I can see my normal colour and it makes me so glad. I stare at the other scars too for a long time, the ones on my upper chest, slightly under my collar bones, from being punctured by the corners of metal lockers that I've been shoved into, and i dare not try and count how many times I can see the same imprint of that scar. I look at the two inch scar on my calf from when my mum accidentally knocked over a vase whilst slapping me, and then she blamed it on me so I got more slaps and I had to clean my leg up myself, and I remember crying the whole time because that's something parents should do, not cause. Of course there's other tiny scars on my body that look like cat scratches or paper cuts but those came from the regular abuse, naturally skin breaks after being weak so most of the smaller scars are just from skin breaking when my stepdad would kick me or guys at school would corner me and all take a hit just for fun. I feel tears rising in my eyes but I choke them down. There's no point in living in the past, and I try to remember that because it really helps me not feel bad for myself. I touch my bones that I've gotten so used to aching, my hip bones, collar bones, ribs, and it's almost like exploring someone for the first time, learning where certain imperfections are and noticing that their collar bones stick out more than a lot of other people's. "Michael" I hear Ashton choke out. I look at the bathroom door that I forgot to close and I see Ashton standing there, watery eyes and hands covering his mouth. I stand and stare at him, shrugging my shoulders and he rushes forward and hugs me and let's go of all the tears in his eyes. "You actually looked" he says in shock. "Yeah I looked" I affirm. "I'm so proud of you" he says and hugs tighter. "I just... You were taking awhile to brush your teeth and I came to see what you were doing and I couldn't move when I saw you looking at yourself because it's been so long" he says and I nod. He lets go and looks me in the eyes and has a smile with joyous tears running down his face. "Can't live in the past right? Gotta move on sometime" I say and he nods. I grab his hands and look into his eyes and say "See, that's the point of scars...they heal. There's still a reminder of what you've gone through but they show you not to live in the past because they heal and you should too."   
 ----------                      
                   *Epilogue*               (Five years later)   
"Wait uncle Mike, you forgot this" Lilliana says through a chuckle. "Oh thanks muffin brains" I say to her and she rolls her eyes. "I'm nine years old uncle Mikey you can stop calling me that" she says as she hands me the flower crown. "Never" I say and place the crown on my head. "You've got it all wrong, freak" she says and giggles as she adjusts the flower crown on my head. "You've had this for a long time right? Uncle Ash bought it for you when you first got here when I was little right?" She asks and I nod, reminiscing the bittersweet memories of when we first got here. "Ahhh Lilly I'm nervous" I say and she smiles. "Well get over it" she says and it makes me laugh. "Honestly never thought i'd see you in a fuckin tux" Luke says as he walks in. "You owe me a dollar uncle Lukey" Lilliana says and glares at him whilst crossing her arms. "Come on let me off the hook Liam isn't even around!" He says and she shakes her head. "Do you want me to go tell him you just said that?" She asks sassily and sticks her hand out. Luke sighs and digs into his pants pocket and pulls out a dollar from his wallet and hands it to her. "Hey look at it this way, you're not only learning not to swear but you're funding my trip to disney world" Lilly says nonchalantly and walks away. Luke leans over to me and says "no I'm just learning not to swear around Liam and little's" and it makes me laugh. "Okay come on we have a wedding to do, let's get this show on the road!" He exclaims and I shudder. "Oh fuck off you'll be fine, there's no reason to be nervous" he says and lightly shoves my shoulder. I sigh because he has a point but still. Lilliana comes back with her flower basket and Lux comes behind her with everything matching and it makes me smile. "You two look adorable" I say and they both blush. "C'mon ladies we gotta go" Lou says and waves at me before pulling the two girls out of our flat. "Okay Mikey we gotta go" Luke says and puts his hand out. "Okay" I say and I put my hand I'm his and walk out of our flat.   
I exhale one last time before coming from behind the prop door that is set up in the yard and as I look over to my side Ashton smiles back at me with a nervous but happy smile and I put my hand in his as we walk down the carpet placed in the yard, following the two most adorable flower girls. I see smiles all around with everyone sitting in the fancy lawn chairs in the yard and as I walk up with Ashton still holding my hand I smile too because this is exactly how I wanted my future to go with Ashton and I wouldn't want it any other way. 


End file.
